Richard Taylor Vale was an Australian politician.

Born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to John Vale and Elizabeth Taylor, he attended Cowper Street School before working as a wholesale stationer. In March 1853 he arrived in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 and briefly mined for gold at Castlemaine

Castlemaine, Victoria

Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...

 before opening a bookshop. He moved his business to Beechworth

Beechworth, Victoria

Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...

 in 1854 or 1855. He returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1860–62 before establishing a bookshop at Smythesdale

Smythesdale, Victoria

Smythesdale is a town in Victoria, Australia. The town is located on the Glenelg Highway in the Golden Plains Shire Local Government Area, west of Ballarat and west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Smythesdale had a population of 280....

, finally settling in Ballarat

Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

 in 1869. In 1865 he married Gertrude Campbell at Scarsdale

Scarsdale, Victoria

Scarsdale a town close to Newtown, Victoria , Australia. It is a small town close to Ballarat....

, with whom he had seven children. In 1886 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 as the member for Ballarat West

Electoral district of Ballarat West

-See also:*Parliaments of the Australian states and territories*List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly-External links:*...

, serving until 1889 and again from 1892 to 1902. From 1894 to 1896 he was a minister without portfolio. Vale died in 1916 at Ballarat.